Monday, December 19, 2011

Wow! I can not believe that this weekend is Christmas already! The last time I posted was almost two months ago! EEK..sorry about that but my Lil Sweet Pea took a bit of time before establishing a workable routine. So I spent alot of my time trying to figure out how to be a good mom and care for my Lily-Anne in the best possible way.

I'll admit it..I am a total "Nervous Nellie" mom. I just want her to be healthy and happy but having never been a mother before I spent alot of time second guessing myself. Thank goodness hubby raised his two girls on his own so he is definitely able to offer me valuable insights and tips but at the end of the day it is me who is with her all day long. So I am trying to do my best each and every day. I am really enjoying it now and not second guessing everything all day long now too.

Lily-Anne is now three months old and we are gearing up for her very first Christmas. We are not going overboard though. Realistically she won't remember it and financially we are strapped. Hubby had lost his job back in October and just started to work again and my paid maternity leave ended as well. So we decided to do more keepsake type Christmas things for the Sweet Pea. We had her portrait done, we then had her picture taken with Santa, we bought her a Baby's first Christmas onesie and ornament. My father and step mom sent Lily-Anne her first Christmas dress and we bought her a Little Einsteins exersaucer. That is the extent of it. We will spend Christmas Eve with family and then Christmas Day we will attend church and then spend a quiet day at home.

As excited as I am about Lily-Anne's first Christmas, I am also sad because things have been difficult for the last few months and it has taken a bit of a toll. I am looking forward to a fresh start in the new year. And to kick off the idea of a fresh start and new beginnings I have decided to cut my hair. Right now it is long --down to the middle of my back but I have decided to cut it into a just below the chin bob and donate my hair to Locks of Love. I am also looking forward to experiencing all of Lily-Anne's milestones this year.

So that is my holiday update! Hope everyone has a healthy and happy holiday!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Ahhh the joys of motherhood...there are many for sure. When I was pregnant I had dreams of my lovely Lil Sweet Pea cooing at me with her little cherubic face, holding her in my arms lovingly, singing sweet songs to her as she looked up with her big eyes and smiled at me....

This dream lasted right until we came home from the hospital and then REALITY set in. My sweet angel of a daughter went from a cherub to an absolute demon. Her sweet little coos were replaced by ear shattering screams, and the sleeping angel she was in the hospital has been replaced by an inexplicable confusion over days and nights.

Motherhood is hard. Now for the last ten years I have single- handedly run classrooms with upwards of thirty children, ran a pre-school class that had thirty four 3 and 4 year olds, worked with infants and toddlers, and handled all the stresses of being in a self contained second grade classroom where I taught everything from religion to gym and let me tell you, nothing...absolutely NOTHING I have encountered or dealt with in the last ten plus years has been as hard or as rewarding as this past month.

Motherhood is so much more than I thought it would be. It is 90 % sheer hard work...and 10 % absolute joy on a level I could never imagine. It is the 10% that makes it so worth it.

I have to keep that in mind because I am literally running on fumes right now. I have been going 24/7 with my sweet pea since we came home. She eats every two hours and does not miss a feeding! Everyone says sleep when she sleeps, however, my angel takes almost 45 minutes to eat and then more time to fall back to sleep which leaves maybe if I am lucky an hour to lay down before she is up again...MAYBE.

Tired is an understatement. Why isn't hubby helping you may be wondering?? Ahhhh he was until he wound up in the hospital for over a week with a seriously scary case of Cellulitis on his leg. He is slowly but surely recovering...but pretty is knocked out at night since his job is so physical and he has to work. So Mommy is exhausted needless to say.

But my Lily-Anne is so worth it everyday. When she gives me that one little smile or giggles or coos at me all is good. Exhaustion melts away and I am content. Motherhood is so much harder than I ever thought it would be but it is so much more joyful than I ever thought imaginable!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

So sorry for the non-posting over the past month. I kind of left y'all with a bit of a cliffhanger there didn't I??

Well needless to say my Lil Sweet Pea arrived on September 16th at 4:55 pm--Lily-Anne Catherine at 6lbs and 6 oz...my Lil bundle of joy!

There's my girl!

I went in on the 15th of September to be induced and by Friday afternoon very little progress had been made. Then all of sudden everything stopped. My Lil Sweet Pea got halfway down the birth canal and stopped. The contractions stopped, her heart rate plummeted and my heart rate skyrocketed --so it was off to the OR for an emergency C-Section. Where my Miss Lily was born!

I am in love -absolute love with my little miracle baby. But she has kept me busy!! She keeps me going 24/7 LOL...but I did want to post and let y'all know we are doing fine!

Hopefully now that things have settled down a bit I can get back to posting more regularly! Still recovering from the C-Section, and hubby is now recovering from a week in the hospital with Cellulitis so it has been a bit crazy here...but things seem to be settling down and I can grab a few moments to write again!!

Monday, September 12, 2011

So the last days of my pregnancy are upon me. I thought I would sail smoothly through these last weeks (days??) but alas, the Lil Sweet Pea had other ideas.

On Friday, I went in for my routine weekly appointment and Non Stress Test. The nurse takes my blood pressure and it is high. But she doesn't seem too worried and just tells me she will take it again when I am in the exam room. Okay, I think, no big deal. My blood pressure has been perfect throughout the entire pregnancy. I was not even alarmed in the least.

So I am in the exam room, all hooked up to the machine for the Non Stress Test and the nurse takes my blood pressure again--still high. Hmmm, I think, that is weird. The nurse leaves and the Doctor comes in and checks me--I am 1 cm dilated and starting to have itty bitty contractions. Woo Hoo! I think to myself, We are making progress!!! I am excited because I for a brief millisecond of time believe labor is imminent and that I will be holding the Sweet Pea in my arms soon! But alas, that is not how it goes.

The doctor looks at my chart and says "Your blood pressure is a bit too high for my liking. I am sending you over to the hospital to labor and delivery and they are going to run some labs, give you an ultrasound, and another Non Stress Test. I'll stop by to check on you later." My head is spinning and all I can think is "What? What just happened??"

But I call the hubby and he has to drive 45 minutes from his work to meet me at the hospital. By the time he gets there I am already in a room and hooked up to the monitor. I have had blood drawn. I am waiting to go for an ultrasound to make sure the fluid in the sac is still good and the baby is okay. I am officially freaking out. I am also officially starving. All I had eaten before I went to my appointment was my cereal and my ice water. I have now been in the hospital for HOURS and they won't let me eat because they do not know if they are going to have to induce labor. Oh sheer torture for me who needs to eat a little something every two hours or I completely crash. Let me tell you--I was crashing and burning. I arrived at the hospital at 10:30 a.m. and it was now pushing 3:00 pm. Let's just say I was not a happy camper and leave the ugliness out of it!

Finally get taken to the ultrasound and the Lil Sweet Pea looks good. Fluid is still great. Little one is active and approximately 6 pounds now! It was so neat to see the baby so big and well formed. Our other ultrasound had been at about 15 weeks and the sweet pea really didn't look so baby like! But now --Oh dear lord I cried seeing that little one on the screen. My little miracle baby!

Go back to the room and the doctor comes and tells me the labs look good my pressure has dropped and they are going to let me go home. However, now I am on bed rest. Oh. No. I have to spend the weekend laying down on my left side. On Monday I will return to the office and they will decide whether to admit me and induce labor or let nature take its course.

So today, I went back to the doctor. After laying in bed all weekend--blood pressure looked good, baby is doing well, contractions are still happening, cervix is softer. So pending the results of my 24 hour urine test we will decide whether or not I am to be induced or if we are just going to let nature take its course. I am however, on modified bed rest for the duration--no lifting, no walking too much, no housework, just lots of laying on left side and relaxing. So that is what I am doing!!

It looks like the Sweet Pea's arrival just may be sooner than expected!!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Blogger why do you hate me so????? Why is that every single freaking time I want to comment on someones blog or ask a question you will NOT post my freaking comment!!!!!????????????

Stop telling me I need to sign in--I am signed in!!!!!! ARRRRRG...I am telling you...if this doesn't get resolved soon..I am jumping ship and heading over to Wordpress...this is ridiculous!! I can't even express thanks to the people who comment on my blog!!! ARRG So FRUSTRATED!!!!

Monday, September 5, 2011

I have to preface this blog entry by saying that I have enjoyed being pregnant immensely and the past 9 months have flown by rather quickly. But I am approximately 38 weeks now and pregnancy is not quite as fun or as cute as it was a few months back.

I don't want to be a "Debbie Downer" but really in the past week or so things have gotten incredibly uncomfortable, nothing fits comfortably anymore, my back is killing me, my bladder is staging a mutiny, and sleep is basically me flipping from one side to the other and rearranging the pillows all night long. I no longer walk, or even waddle in the cute way I was a few weeks ago..now I lumber like Godzilla...it ain't attractive. My hair is tri colored--meaning I have not been able to dye it in 9 months and now it is a lovely shade of GRAY, BLACK, and Brownish...I look like hell.Oh and I am a bit more cranky than usual (okay a hell of a lot more cranky!) and I am at the point where as terrified of labor as I am, I would like to just have the baby now.

And on top of all these lovely things I am emotional as hell. Thus the title of this post. I feel incredibly left out. I can't do anything anymore. Its a struggle just to walk around our mall and our mall is TINY!!! UGGG...but on top of all this, hubby and the teenager joined Karate.

I always wanted to try martial arts. I am feeling very left out because obviously I cannot join now and will not be able to join anything like that for several weeks after the baby is born. (And in all honesty--am I going to be able to do it then anyways?? I think I am going to be preoccupied with a newborn...) But anyways, the crux here is that I ALWAYS wanted to learn it and the hubby knew that and he joined with out me and then of course the teenager thought it sounded cool so she joined up two days later. Now it is all they talk about. And it makes me mad. I can't do a darn thing and they are out there three days a week learning all this cool stuff while I am stuck at home feeling like a fat slug. I admit it --I am jealous and it makes me feel awful. I hate feeling left out.

Hubby said I should definitely join after I am cleared for activity after the baby comes. But by that time hubby will be months ahead of me and I know I will feel like I am always trying to catch up to his level. Not a confidence booster for me. Then hubby says "...and it takes a lot of focus and you get frustrated very easily." Ohhhhhhhhh....great in other words 'maybe you shouldn't try it'....

So feeling left out and feeling like a slug not a good combination. So now I want to find something I can do for myself, that will make me feel good, and give me some time out of the house once the baby arrives. Because I know that I need to take care of me as well as taking care of the baby. I just don't know what I want to try...But I know I have to find something I will enjoy because otherwise I will just continue to feel left out and upset. And I so do not want that to be the case.

So I am off to research post pregnancy activities I can take up after the Sweet Pea arrives!!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Am I the only pregnant woman left who did not find out the gender of her baby at the ultrasound??? I certainly feel like it. Everywhere I go people ask me "What are you having?" and I answer "Oh I don't know we didn't find out...its going to be a surprise!" and then said person looks at me like I have two heads and usually replies with something like "Oh well isn't that interesting...but didn't you want to know? How will you decorate the nursery if you don't know?" Really????

I know it is so easy to find out the gender of your baby in this day and age. I know that the technology has taken the iffiness of the answer out of the equation and 99.9% of the time they get the gender right. I can understand finding out if you already have children and need to know for clothing or room painting etc. Then the technology and the ease at which a technician can tell you the gender of your child may make sense for you.

**My Lil Sweet Pea** But for me, this is my first child. This is my dream come true. This is my blessing from God after so many years of feeling as if I would never be able to have a child of my own. For me, not finding out the gender has only enhanced my entire pregnancy experience. For me-not finding out the gender of the Lil Sweet Pea came down to this thought "How many TRUE surprises does one get in a lifetime?" Not many. Not enough for me to say "Yes" when the technician at the ultrasound asked "Do you want to know the gender?" No, no not yet. I will find out when they put my Lil bundle of joy into my arms in the hospital.

So, we made some compromises when we decided not to find out the gender. The nursery is a gender neutral theme of Dr. Seuss. And we had to buy two outfits--one boy outfit and one girl outfit for the baby to come home in from the hospital. We don't have alot of actual clothes for the Sweet Pea but alot of PJ's., so for the first week the Lil one will be in his/her PJ's as we stock up on actual outfits. I don't think it will traumatize the baby though. I am pretty sure that the baby's priorities will be eating, sleeping, and diaper changing.

So do I regret not finding out the gender of my Lil Sweet Pea?? NO, not one bit. Because no matter what gender this Lil bundle of joy is--he/she already has my heart. I love this baby and can not to hold him/her in my arms in a few short weeks.

So am I the only one not finding out the gender of their baby?? Let me know your thoughts...

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I tend to get obsessed as in totally absorbed in and must do or participate or buy or read or watch whatever my obsession at the moment is. It keeps me motivated to try new things (or at least I like to think it does!LOL)

Anyways past obsessions for me include: 1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series2. The color pink3. Star Wars4. Makeup tutorials on You Tube5. Project Runway and then the subsequent need to buy a sewing machine to try to teach myself to sew (Hee hee still working on that!!)

And many others, but ya'll get the idea and I will definitely share more of my obsessions here on the blog (which is another new obsession of mine!) But once I have become obsessed with something I tend to stay a fan of said activity or book or show etc.

Well my newest obsession is Pinterest. OMG...have you been to this site?? I could pin and re pin things to my "boards" all day long and quite frankly have spent too many hours doing just that lately. Plus you can link it with your Facebook page and share all your "pins" with your friends. It is so much fun!!! Plus I find so many great craft, food, home and fashion ideas on there and new websites or blogs to check out. I am definitely in full blown obsessive mode with it right now. I love pinning pics and ideas to my boards. I love that I have followers who re pin my pins. I love commenting on the pins. I am spending way too much time on Pinterest right now!! But it is so addictive. I truly recommend you try it!

So that is my latest obsession right now...well that and the impending arrival of the Lil Sweet Pea!! LOL

I have never been in a hurricane before. Never really thought that Pennsylvania was actively hurricane prone. (It isn't..most of the time we just get the rains after a hurricane hits NC or VA)But wow, according to the local news coverage the last two days you would have thought we WERE in NC about to get hit by the eye of the storm and all hell was going to break loose!

*Hurricane Irene Sweeps into the area--everyone panic!!!!***

I do not want to belittle the news agencies or the reporters or the weather people but in the end I think they over hyped the storm and spread unnecessary panic. I mean really, here I am 9 months pregnant and there is nothing on TV except the hurricane coverage. My hubby had to drive his younger teenager back up to the mountains where she lives for the school year and I was home alone with nothing but the TV for company. Guess who got spun into a bit of a tizzy watching all that hurricane coverage?? Ummm yeah, that would be moi.

I kept texting hubby--"Should I fill the bathtub with water?" "Should I tie down the grill?" "What if I go into labor in the middle of the hurricane?"

Needless to say he wasn't thrilled with any of it. He has lived through hurricanes, he lost a house to a hurricane back in 1999. And as he continued to tell me and reassure me--we live to far inland--at most it will be a severe storm do not work yourself up over this. Did I listen to my husband's wisdom? Ummmm No. I took upon myself to move all the patio furniture with my big fat preggo butt and then for the rest of the afternoon dealt with Braxton Hicks contractions and freaked out over the possibility of going into labor alone in the middle of the storm.

The darn hurricane didn't hit until about 4 am here anyways. I slept through most of it. We sustained no damage. Hell our garbage can didn't even move. The winds here were not as strong as predicted by the weather people and in the end it was really just a summer storm with wind gusts.

Now I am not saying there wasn't damages in other places or that there were not power outages and unfortunately some people sadly lost their lives. It is the right thing to prepare for the worst, to take precautions, and be safe. But my whole problem with this "Storm of the Century" was the over-hyped and panic stricken mayhem that was reported and over blown by the media. I mean for crying out loud the mayor of Philadelphia was on the news saying that residents should be prepared to go without power for two weeks! TWO WEEKS???? Seriously??? It was a Category 1 hurricane when it hit NC by the time it worked its way up the coast it was being downgraded to a tropical storm. My husband said they got slammed harder in 1999 with Hurricane Floyd and most news outlets referred to that as a "rain event". Really? Because that was the hurricane that wiped out not just his house but an entire neighborhood on the banks of the Neshaminy Creek.

*The Neshaminy Creek after a big storm*

But Hurricane Irene was "the worst storm to hit land in 50 years" according to one news report. So not the case. Yes the rivers and creeks have flooded, there are downed trees and power outages but nothing like the mayhem and chaos I expected after two days of non stop news coverage.

*Do news reporters have to do this???*

So please media people take your need to over blow a situation to the extreme and shove it. Just give me the facts pure and simple and let me take rational and sane precautions. Never again do I want to be 9 months pregnant and in a tizzy because there is no other pressing news to report but a storm.

*The actual Schuylkill River*

This morning we got up went to church, went food shopping and ran our regular errands and while a bit windy and misty with rain it wasn't too bad. Our town seemed relatively undamaged. The creek flooded the park, but that has happened in other storms and the Schuylkill is rising and rushing and will probably flood by tonight but we are not in a low lying area and there are no residences in my town that sit that low for it to be a major danger. So hopefully everyone has made it and will make it through the last remnants of the storm and be safe. No need to lose your minds.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sooo the impending Storm of The Century--Hurricane Irene (or at least that is what EVERY news station will have you believe--even though she has been downgraded to a CAT 1...) is rolling into my neck of the woods today...yes it is dreary and grey and just a little bit windy. I will do my duty and put my patio furniture away and hunker down with the dog and kitties...but really the way the news is portraying this storm right now makes me think I should have hired Noah to build me an Ark!!!! OMG...can you say "trying to start widespread panic"?????

But anyways, in the midst of all the hyped storm coverage I learned something interesting. Did you know that low barometric pressure is often associated with the onset of labor???? Greeeeat...I so do not want to go into labor this weekend. So I think I am just going to have to squeeze my knees together and say no to the Lil Sweet Pea. There will be no labor during the hurricane! I have thus decreed that my final answer !! I'm just sayin....

Friday, August 26, 2011

Note to self do not go onto You Tube or the Baby Center websites and type Labor and Delivery into the search...you will watch found birthing videos and then be freaked for the rest of the night by what is awaiting you in the next few weeks. You will be horrified yet fascinated. It is like a train wreck or really bad reality TV...you want to turn it off but you can't--you must know what is going to happen and then you see EXACTLY what is going to happen. OMG you think to yourself--I am going to have to do that??? Really this child inside me is going to come out of me like THAT???

(Now don't get me wrong I am an educated girl--had sex ed in school, graduated college etc...but the reality of labor--OMG whole different story and perspective!!!)

You will want a C-section, you will want to be unconscious through labor, you will want to run screaming from the possibility that in a few short weeks it will be you laying on the bed in the hospital in a most immodest manner huffing and puffing...You may faint from the watching it...

You will drive your devoted husband batty with all the "What if.." questions and he will in no way sugar coat it when he says "You can't go back now..." and begins to laugh at your hysteria over the monstrosity that seems to be childbirth. He will walk back into the kitchen chuckling at his silly wife and you will bury your head in the sofa pillow trying not to scream hysterically! Ahhh men they have it so easy...just standing there up by your head or holding your hand telling you to "breathe"...grrrrrrrr

For all my first time pregnant lovelies I say DO NOT watch the labor videos!!! I repeat DO NOT watch the labor videos!!! (Wish someone had told me that...hmmmph!) That is my random thought for the day!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

So I have been diligently working on our little nursery for a few weeks now. And when I say little..I mean little! We have a small house to begin with so we actually had to split our back room which was the office/exercise room in half to accommodate the nursery.

It has been a lesson in space saving and space maximizing for me. I am not in any way shape or form interior design minded so this has been a bit of a challenge for me. I had to make compromises and change my original "baby utopia" plan I started out with when I found out I was pregnant.

**Books, table, toys etc**

But as I said, compromises were made. For instance, our office desk and computer are still in the nursery. This is due in fact to a couple of reasons. First, the desk is a huge white corner desk from IKEA and it weighs a ton. Hubby did not want to move it and honestly there is nowhere else in the house it would fit and not look like a monstrosity. Secondly, with all the computer and other pieces of technology my husband has hooked up over in this corner I didn't think we would be able to reassemble all the wires, etc before the baby arrives!! Besides, the fact that the office equipment is on the desk, we also have a TV on the top portion and I figured in the end if the baby was going to be up at night and I was going to be out here may as well have the ease of access to the Internet and late night TV programming.

**2 Swings! One is for the Nursery and one is for the living room!**(You can see our treadmill is still there!LOL)

Second compromise I had to make in the nursery was the exercise equipment. The original game plan was to move ALL the equipment out to the garage. Hubby bought a really nice heater and was going to have that installed for his workshop out there anyway. So we sectioned off the garage --front half is his workshop and the back half is the exercise area. Heater is in we just need the propane and the last bit of hooking up.

We moved the heavy ass weight machine out of the nursery and into the garage, and we moved the elliptical machine out in the garage, and Hubby is getting a heavy bag for out there too. However, as much as we got done in that department there seems to be some sort of issue over the last component parts for the heater out there. At this point it looks like we will not have the exercise portion of the garage done for the winter.

Which leads to my second big compromise in the nursery. The Treadmill. Yes, the treadmill is still in the nursery. Hubby runs 3 miles on it every morning before going to work. I, of course will have my butt on it after the baby arrives. It is not like we do not use the equipment...we do! However, my vision of a baby nursery did not really include a huge ass treadmill in the corner. But oh well compromises are made. So the Treadmill stays for the winter at least. Which on a positive I guess gives me no excuse to not work out every day!

**Crib with the playpen pieces in it--still organizing away!! See the end of the futon??? Cozy nursery!!**

Third compromise I made had to do with not getting a rocking chair or a glider. Again, like I said we have a tiny house and not much room for maneuvering big pieces of furniture. Back here we have a futon that was just bought before we found out I was pregnant. Its great because we don't have a guest room so when Hubby's mom came down from the mountains or my dad comes up from Florida we had a place for them to stay. I liked it ...we spent a pretty penny on it and it was cozy. However, we have nowhere else to put it and I was not storing it in the garage so compromise number three was made. I have no rocker but a really cozy futon that I just covered to match the nursery theme.

**A Dr. Seuss Growth Chart!**

So here I am working away on my little nursery and it seems like it is all starting to come together and look like an actual baby nursery. And I am sitting out here yesterday and the teenager comes in and looks around and says "Huh, none of the baby stuff matches. The stroller is black with plaid, the playpen is tan, the nursery stuff is Dr. Seuss and that play mat thingy is an ocean." Then she walks out. Ummmm can you say deflated??? I wanted to cry. Here I am spending the last few weeks stressing over this nursery trying to get it done and then she says that and I feel like everything is ghetto. Gosh, I hope it is just the end stages of pregnancy but I wanted to cry and then I wanted to slap her. But I didn't do either. I just kept plugging along back here trying to make it cozy and inviting as best I know how. Siiighhh.

**I love this book and this banner!!**

We pretty much had to get everything ourselves to begin with. My baby shower was extremely tiny due to many family issues and honestly I am not trying to sound ungrateful or greedy but we just didn't get much. We got lots of little things but all the big things were on us to buy and it has taken all summer to get everything in order. I just felt like yesterday all my hard work was for naught and that made me very sad. I don't want to be sad! This is supposed to be the most joyful time of my life and I feel like I am just overly stressed about the whole thing.

**Organizing the changing table**

Hopefully in the next few days the nursery will be completely set up and I will be able to relax and enjoy these last couple of weeks of my pregnancy. How did you handle the last few weeks of your pregnancies??

Much luv!!(And pictures of the completed Nursery will be posted soon!!!)Laura

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Hello there...yes I have totally failed as a blogger these past few weeks. I know it is an epic fail on my part too because I have so many things I want to write about and share! But sometimes life sort of intercedes and you get sidetracked. Well I did anyways and I apologize. But it was for a really good reason which I will share.

See about a year and a half ago I was physically assaulted and about two weeks ago we found out the scumbag was out of prison. Now you would think the D.A. would give me the courtesy of letting me know this dirt bag was getting out as they are supposed to do. As I was told they would do because there is a Stay Away order in place. But alas, I was not contacted by the D.A..No, I found out through Facebook of all places!

Grrr does not begin to describe how I felt. But a call to the DA's office has yet to be returned and in the meantime this waste of humanity is back to his old game. Uggggg...Needless to say the Hubby and I were not happy about the situation but we have all the legal orders in place--Stay Away Order that was ordered through the court judge and a restraining order (we knew this day was coming--however a little warning from the justice system would have been nice!) It is just not the stress I need as I am lumbering through my last few weeks of this pregnancy. So basically I have been running around and stressing this development and making sure everything that can be done has been done.

So that is why I have not been a very good blogger...I have not even read or commented on so many of my favorite blogs in the last few weeks...so I apologize for my epic fail in that department. But in good news the nursery is progressing along...just waiting on a few items to be delivered to complete it and then I will be posting pics! So that makes me smile!! But now that I am in a much calmer place and am just focusing on the Sweet Pea my regular blogging and commenting and posting can resume. I really do want to make a contribution tot he blogging sphere and will be ever more vigilant about posting from now on. Forgive me???

Friday, July 29, 2011

So as the weeks fly by and we are now in the home stretch of this pregnancy I have been thinking more and more about the name for the baby. The boy name is easy--Hubby will get his lil namesake if the Sweet Pea is a boy. No trouble there we agreed to that a long time ago.

However, if our lil Sweet Pea is a girl, well then I have a bunch of choices and everyone is my favorite and the absolute perfect choice for at least three days then I start to waver, doubt, and change my mind.

For the girl name it has to have two citeria for me in order to consider it for the Sweet Pea. It has to have Anne or a variation of Anne in it and must work with our choice of Catherine as the middle name. So far I have a growing list on my iPhone of girls names. So I thought I would share them here. But be warned I keep adding names to the list every few days so this list is by no means the comprehensive complete list!! LOL I will probablly add more before the end of the weekend ha ha!

Girls Name for the Sweet Pea:

Annabelle

Guilianna

Gwenevere

Chloe-Anne

Anna-Sophia

Anna-Elyse

Madelaine-Anne

Lily-Anne

Lily-Anna

Francesca Anne

So far that is the most recent list...right now I am leaning towards Lily-Anna but Annabelle was my first choice for a looong time too and I keep going back to that too. I don't know which name the lil Sweet Pea will end up with,,I just want her/him to actually like their name when they grow up! I didn't like my name when I was a teen because all my friends had names like Tiffani, Stephanie, Frani, Sheri, and mine sounded so old fashioned at the time. Now however, I love my name. It is classic --doesn't sound dated at all and it isn't a name that is too common but won't sound silly when I am 75 years old. I want my child to have a name that they will proud to call their own.

Am I being neurotic?? I just think this is the first really important decision that I need to make for my child. I want the name to fit my child and their personality.

I think I will know the right name to choose when I am holding my Lil Sweet Pea in my arms for the first time. And I can not wait for that day to finally arrive!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Today was my last day of teaching summer school and that means I'm now on my year long maternity leave. Exciting yes, but also a little nerve wracking as I will not be working. EEK!!

My mind is just swirling and all over the place thinking about the things I need to do before my Lil Sweet Pea arrives. The nursery is in chaos...we need so many more things yet--stroller, car seat, crib mattress, bottles, clothes...egads the list is endless. 8 weeks till the Sweet Pea's arrival...ahhhhhhhhh!

Oh and have I mentioned I'm a worrier by nature so now I am a nesting, nervous soon to be momma who is worrying about everything! I need to calm down and just BREATHE...

So tomorrow begins my new life as a Stay At Home Soon To Be Mommy...I am so excited to be starting this new chapter in my life and can't wait to see where this journey takes me!

Friday, July 22, 2011

So I was reading the latest post on Little Miss Momma's Blog called Tips to Overcoming Writers Block and How to Get Out of a Creative Funk see it here http://www.littlemissmomma.com/. I love her blog it is always full of great ideas and crafts and tutorials and Ashley (the blog's author) always makes you feel like you are sitting right there with her!

Anyways I was reading the post in my post sickness haze and one of the ideas she wrote about was compiling a life list. I thought it would be a great idea for me to push past some of my writing issues I have been having lately. So I tried to see how many I could come up with that meant something to me and things that I could accomplish and would push myself to accomplish. So here is my Life List as of July 22nd 2011:**In no particular order**

Travel to Italy, Greece, and Germany

Get Pregnant

Buy house

Learn to speak Italian

Learn how to shoot a crossbow

Learn to shoot a longbow

Own my own business

Run a 5k

Write my great American Novel

Renew my wedding vows

Read the entire Bible

Learn to sew on my sewing machine and make my own dresses

Learn to cook

Travel to Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone

Repair relationships with certain family members

Live in Texas

Live in Maine

Go whale watching

Volunteer at church

Work with an organization that helps our soldiers

Read every Henry Miller novel

Write a children's book

Dye my hair RED

Travel the USA in an RV for a year

Compile all my favorite quotes in a pretty notebook

Put favorite quotes in frames and hang running down the stair wall at my house

Own a 1957 Chevy Bel Air in Candy Apple Red with white leather seats

Take a defensive driving course

Learn to shoot

Learn to rock climb

Go zip lining

Learn to ride a horse

Have a meeting with an angel communicator

Get a cosmetology license

Visit Egypt

Learn Latin

Own a German Shepherd

Meet the Pope

Learn to Ballroom Dance

Take a picture of my child every day for a year

Journal everyday

Blog everyday for a year

Plant a garden and maintain it

Get a Real Estate License

Hike/Climb the Grand Tetons

Visit the US Virgin Islands

Let my hair grow all the way to my waist (halfway there!!LOL)

Then cut my hair into a chin length bob

Learn calligraphy

Act in a play/movie/TV show

Take a ride in a hot air balloon

Write my memoirs

Take a ride in that anti gravity plane

Fly with the Blue Angels

Learn a martial art and become a black belt

Participate in a real Native American sweat lodge ceremony

Get a tattoo on my lower back--Cross with a rosary and roses

Participate in one of those home makeover shows

Be in two places at once

Get one of those "Glamour" photo shoots done

Stay at the Ritz Hotel for a weekend

Buy luxurious satiny silky sheets for the bed

Have a canopy bed

Be able to decorate my whole house in shabby country chic

Get a tan without burning myself!

Dye my hair blonde

Buy a pair of leather pants

Learn scuba dive

Ride on the back of a motorcycle

Have six pack abs

Go on a safari

Hold a baby lion, tiger, cheetah, jaguar, panther, cougar cubs

See the wild horses run in Montana

Go on a religious pilgrimage

See a Broadway Musical on Broadway

Get pregnant again!!

Become a freelance writer for magazines

To not be so shy--make new friends

Compliment a stranger

Create a makeup workshop for teens

Do makeup tutorials on You Tube

To become the Disney Teacher of the Year

To go to a Ball

To meet Dr. Michio Kaku--famous physicist (I crush on him a bit)

To read all of William Shakespeare's Works

To lose weight I lost over 176 before I got pregnant

To lose pregnancy weight and get fit after the baby is born

To teach a college course

To get a PhD

To work on a presidential campaign

To hold a boa constrictor and a python

To swim with dolphins

To renovate a house and flip it

To have a log cabin in the mountains

To take a cruise

To be a PI and solve a mystery

To meet and have lunch with Sarah Michelle Gellar

To design my own fashion line

To become a motivational speaker'

Learn to swing on a trapeze

Be financially secure

Keep my house super clean and tidy (even with the baby!!)

To be a Stay At Home Mom

Get back into working out everyday

Work as a teacher at my parish school

Smile at everyone I encounter throughout the day

Attend a festival concert

Take a photography course

Okay so that is what I came up with today. I wrote it in my notebook so I can always add to it or cross stuff out as I accomplish them. But I thought it was a good start to a Life List and it really did stretch my imagination and got me thinking so it was an excellent writing exercise too!!!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

So this week was just AWFUL...Sickness has invaded Podville and it ain't pretty. First, the teenager came home from work over the weekend complaining she was not feeling good and a bit dizzy. She pretty much slept it off over the weekend. And by Monday she was bouncing out the door to work. (OH to be 18 again with the ability to bounce back from anything in a relatively quick manner....sigh)

However, Sunday Hubby starts complaining of feeling achy and sore and is running a slight temperature of 100. Not too big of a deal..he takes some NyQuil and intends to sleep it off. We head to bed. I am secure in the knowledge that Hubby rarely gets sick and a good long nights rest will cure him of any ails.

HA HA!!!! BOY WAS I WRONG! Monday morning I awake with the mother of all migraines...call out of teaching summer school..and head back to bed. Hubby is supposed to be getting up for work but he is not moving from his side of the bed. He is cocooned in the blankets and HAWT AS HELL. Ohhhh no...what is this? I say to myself..."Honey," I gently shake him awake"Honey, are you going to work??" Hubby literally growls at me and says "No, Iam sick and freezing cold." Ummm really?? Freezing? Cause it feels like we have a heating blanket on the bed right now. This is not good. However, my head is banging and since all I can take is one acetaminophen every four hours due to the pregnancy it looks like I will be spending the majority of the day in bed myself. Oh how I miss my Imitrex for migraines....

Wake up hours later still feeling like sh*t and hubby is in the throes of a massive sick meltdown. Can I just take a moment here to ask why men are such babies when they are sick??? I am now trying to make him feel better while trying to make myself feel better as well....it is not pretty. This goes on for the next few days and it goes from ugly to downright FUGLY by Wednesday. We feel like sh*t and let me tell you we look even worse...we look so bad it got to the point on Wednesday that even as craptastic as I felt I had to shower and put some makeup on just so I recognized myself in the mirror. It was that bad.

Let me tell you being sick is no fun...being sick while being almost 8 months pregnant in the middle of a massive heat wave with a hubby that is even sicker and more miserable lends itself to a week of incoherent mumblings and threats, lots of evil side-eye being thrown on each person's end, and the monumental amount of whining from both of us as we struggled to move, sit, sleep, walk or just stand for more than a minute at a time. It has not been pleasant.

However, Hubby is nothing if not resilient. When the store called to say our new flat screen had been delivered...Hubby got himself dressed and headed over to pick it up. So last night he set up the new flat screen in the living room. I think that made him feel better than any medicine could...lol. And so today we feel more human like and are definitely moving out of this nasty summer flu..but honestly I NEVER EVER want to go through a week like this ever again....it was gross and it was nasty and it was UGLY.

Now where are all my hair and make up products?? Gotta make myself look human again today and nothing does that better than the magic of makeup!!! LOL

Monday, July 18, 2011

I started a forum on BlogFrog as an outpost of this blog --sort of a place to further discuss motherhood for new and not so new moms, survival tips, and other ideas for crafting and writing. I hope you will join me there! :-)Two Peas and a Pod on BlogFrog

**Just figuring out how to get the widgets to display on my blog! IE keeps blocking crosscript so I have to figure it out BUT I will!!! **

So this weekend was my birthday! I love my birthday and I love when it falls on a weekend! I don't know why I enjoy it so much. I certainly don't relish the thought of getting older (although I must say the women in my family age very well-so hopefully I will too!) But I do like the idea of a day that is mine and special. So I still get as excited as a six year old when my birthday rolls around!

**I wish that was my cake!! Doesn't it look yummo?

This year my Hubby outdid himself on the present I must say! My poor pink Dell laptop had seen better days. It got a virulent virus a year ago and had to be completely whacked. It never worked quite right after and it just got to the point where I never even used it anymore. I would just use the Hubby's laptop. But I seriously missed having my own laptop to do my stuff on (like blogging!!) So I had been throwing hints out for a few weeks hoping the Hubby would pick up on my subtlety such as when we were at BJs "Oh honey look at this really cute laptop! Its not that expensive either!" Ok, subtle I am not..lol

However, Hubby keeps asking me if I like the Kindle or the Nook better for an eReader. So I thought he was really getting me one. Which would be awesome too! But lo and behold on my birthday Hubby arrives home with a big pink bag and when I open it up inside is the cutest little brand new net book! Yay for me!!! That hubby is a sly guy lol.

Then Hubby took me out for a lovely dinner. It was a very nice birthday. Which always makes me happy!! This year is special too because it is my last birthday before the baby comes in September and that will definitely be the greatest gift of all!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

It is 3 am here and the Lil Sweet Pea has decided I should no longer be comfortable sleeping in any position...so here I am sitting in the Nursery/Office typing away while Hubby (and now the Sweet Pea!!) are blissfully asleep!

But I digress. I wanted to write about my lovely idea to teach summer school while 7 months pregnant in a school about an hour and half drive from my home. As the title suggests, it seemed like a much better idea in April when I signed up for it. At the time I was in the throes of my second trimester energy spurt and feeling like I could do it all!! Ha ha!!! Now however, the third trimester has reared its ugly head and I am honestly more exhausted now than I was in the first trimester! BIG YAWN!!! (Seriously, I yawn all the time these days!)

**See??? BIG YAWN! LOL

I am very uncomfortable these days. I am large and achy and as the Hubby says "whiny" too! (I don't mean to be whiny...I just get so tired and cranky at times.) Add to this the fact that Hubby and I are sharing one car to save on gas until summer school is over. No big deal unless of course you are seven months pregnant and the alarm goes off at 3:45 a.m. so both you and the Hubby can be out of the house by 5:15 a.m. so Hubby can be at work by 6 a.m. I do not need to be at summer school until 9a.m. Grrrr--tired much is an understatement these days.

But it has been nice in that Hubby and I get to have breakfast in his shop together every morning. Then I leave and make the hour drive down to my work.

Now summer school on paper looked very good--pay is great (and we need it with the impending arrival of the Sweet Pea) and it is only Mondays thru Thursdays from 9am to 12pm. No big deal right??? Except again, by the time I make it down there I have already been awake for five hours and am jonesing for a nap!! So I teach the little ones until 12 pm. Now I am done but Hubby isn't done until 3:00 pm and it is HOT in his Weld shop in the afternoon while I have to wait for two hours for him to be done. Sometimes I head over to the coolness of the Barnes and Noble, but I can't really indulge my love of books with any actual buying because everything is being saved for the baby stuff we are still in need of! Egads! Plus have I mentioned the exhaustion??? I am afraid if I sit in one of those big, comfy chairs Barnes and Noble has I will fall asleep in the middle of the store and snore or worse yet drool!! EEk, no thank you on the public humiliation.

So yes, this whole teaching summer school thing sounded great back in April but now I just have a countdown going to the end of the month. Because come August I have an appointment with my bed for extended periods of napping and resting before the September arrival of the Lil Sweet Pea!!!

Friday, July 1, 2011

I went to my doctor this week for a regular appointment. I am now 28 weeks along in this wonderful pregnancy! Everything is good--the baby's heartbeat is strong and they measured my belly and said I am right on target for where I should be at this time in the pregnancy. The Lil Sweet Pea has been way active and all was good!

That is until my doctor told me I now need to do Baby Kick Counts twice a day. If you are unaware of what this is in simple terms I am to lay or sit still twice a day (once in the morning and once in the evening) and count how many times the baby moves or kicks up to 10 in an hour.If I am not getting ten kicks in an hour or activity seems to slow or be non-existent I am to call the office and let them know. Well, at the doctor's office I thought "No problem! The Lil Sweet Pea is like a kick boxer right now!"

That is until I got home and tried to do my first "official" Kick Count. I ate dinner and laid down on the couch because I figured this is usually when the Lil Sweet Pea likes to move. And I waited to start counting. And I waited. And I waited some more. I poked my belly. I jiggled my belly and nothing...not a peep from the Sweet Pea. I started to get nervous. From 5:30 pm to almost 7:00 pm...I slowly spiraled into a nervous panic. All horrible thoughts raced through my mind. Every night for the last couple of weeks right after dinner was the active time...now I got nothing.

Now I tend to be a "Nervous Nellie" at times anyway--especially with medical and/or things I have never done or experienced before such as PREGNANCY!!! So needless to say, I was quickly heading into a complete panic zone! Then all of a sudden at 7:30 pm...BAM!! Ten kicks quick and furious. WTF??? I thought I was going to lose my mind. But I quickly logged the time and the kicks.

The next day at 6:19 to 6:25 am Ten quick kicks recorded and much movement afterward, I begin to breathe a sigh of relief. Until the nighttime count where yet AGAIN I get nothing for the longest time. Then with much prodding and eating of the sugar free ice cream I get my kick count in. This continues for the rest of the week. My nerves are shot and the Hubby has told me in no uncertain terms to just stop counting as it appears I am beginning to lose my mind over it. I call my Aunt and ask her but she can't recall having to do this Kick Count. I ask my friends who have been pregnant recently...they tell me to lay on my left side and drink something sweet. Ummm didn't work by the way. I keep checking the book and the pregnancy websites for tips. My hair gets progressively grayer.

It has been a long week until I hit upon the genius (I thought so anyways) idea last night to just do the count when the Lil Sweet Pea is actually awake and moving!! Duh! So last night I eat dinner and turn on my show and don't even think about the counting. About halfway thought the show the Lil Sweet Pea is on the move and I get my ten kicks in and a whole crap load more after! This morning I get up to go the bathroom at 4:30 am. Come back to bed and lay down and before I can fall asleep the Sweet Pea is up and kicking and I get my morning count in. BIG SIGH OF RELIEF.

I don't know what I was thinking this week!!I mean I think I am a smart girl. I have common sense (most of the time) I am educated.I have a dual certification BA in teaching and hold an MBA for crying out loud but this stuff makes me lose my mind! I am now a firm, firm, firm believer in pregnancy brain!!!! That and it is definitely making my neurotic tendencies come out in full force. I have to work on keeping them in check otherwise it will just spiral into worrywart hell!!

Anyone else have moments like these throughout their pregnancy???? Please tell me I am not alone!! LOL

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

You know those big, gorgeous, to die for houses with the huge front doors, the enormous bay windows, the immaculate landscaping in the front AND back yards??? Most people look at those houses and say to themselves "I want that!". Most people dream about owning and living in such houses (and if you are one of the lucky people who do well then God Bless ya!!)Most people drool over those beautiful and large proportioned houses with their 2 and a half baths, 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen filled with the finest stainless steel appliances and a great room with a fireplace. These are the homes showcased on the DIY network or HGTV.

**Not my home by the way**

Now I look at those homes and the first thing that pops into my mind is "How will I ever keep up on the house cleaning in that house?!!" I mean seriously I can barely keep my own house clean and it is only a two story little Cape Cod type house. To be perfectly honest the upstairs is just the teenagers bedrooms so I NEVER go up there. And we don't have a basement. So literally it is one floor to keep clean. A kitchen, a living room, our bedroom, the bathroom, the laundry room and the back office (soon to be nursery). That is it. I have trouble keeping up with the clutter and cleaning. I didn't even have the baby yet and I have trouble keeping up!

My Hubby is an ex-military guy so you would think he would be a neat freak, right? Ummm noooooo. He is a slob. His clothes never hit the laundry basket. The floor to our bedroom is apparently the laundry basket. Every day before work I spend a significant portion of my time getting ready picking up his trail of clothes. Sigh.

Also, Hubby loves to cook. He is a phenomenal cook. He is a fantastic baker. (Confession here: I am an utter disgrace to my Italian heritage and never cook...eek now you know!) I love his meals. I devour them! But Hubby also feels the need to dirty every dish, every utensil, every pot, pan, and other tool used for cooking when he is creating his gastronomic masterpieces. And guess who gets left with the dishes to wash? Yes that would be me.

The teenager likes to leave piles of her crap going up the steps to her room. This stuff never actually makes it to her room unless I physically move it all to the front of her door in hopes that she gets the hint. Sometimes it works...most times the stufff just lays in a pile onthe landing by her door. Her room is so messy I am afraid of what actually lives in there so more often than not I do not put things in her room because that would mean having to open the door and that could mean taking my life into my hands.Teenagers have an amazing ability to not see clutter, dirt, or large species of unknown bedroom monsters lurking in their midst. It boggles my mind.

So ever since I found out I was pregnant and would be able to take a year off for maternity leave I have been fantasizing about how I will be home so I will be able to do the laundry, dust the furniture, vaccuum the rugs, scrub the bathrooms, and keep the kitchen clean! It will be great!

I will no longer be making an almost two hour commute each way to work, I won't have papers or projects or lesson plans to do at night, no more open houses, report card conferences, or staff development meetings to attend! I will be home 24/7 and finally I will able to become "June Cleaver" and keep my house clean and sanitized! It will sparkle like the top of the Chrysler Buildiing, it will gleam like the top of Mr. Clean's head, it will dazzle and amaze my family and friends with how clean and lovely it is! Everyone will oooh and aahhh over how I am able to take care of a newborn and keep my house as clean as the day we moved in!

I lapse into this fantasy quite often. It makes me smile. It has become my happy place in a sea of chaos and clutter. Whenever I come home home and see a sink full of dirty dishes and trash that is overflowing I just stare off into the distance and go to my happy place. Most women fantasize about George Clooney. Not me. No I am fantasizing about a clean house.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Sounds strange to love something that makes you incredibly hormonal, gain weight, break out in zits and waddle like a penguin when you walk...but I have to admit it--I love absolutely everything about being pregnant! I guess it's because I waited so long for this blessing and now even with the complications...I truly am enjoying pregnancy!!

Here are my top ten reasons why I love being pregnant:

10. Hubby is so sweet and will cook me special meals or go out and buy me a regular sized Rita's just to indulge my cravings for sugar free water ice!

9. Getting to register for all the baby items--that was so much fun! I love being able to pick out the design elements for the nursery and the lil onesies and all the cute and practical things! I love it!

8. The deferential treatment from salespeople and cashiers at stores as I waddle in to make my purchases. So far everyone has been super nice and uber helpful! Plus now I get to park in the "stork" parking or the "mommy to be" parking spots that so many stores have these days! I used to long for the day I could do that and now I can!!

7. Pre-Natal Vitamins--My hair and my nails are growing so long!! My nails would probably be in better shape if I wasn't a nail biter (ugg something I need to work on!) but my hair is growing super fast! YAY!! I want my hair to be really long again so this is a great help!

6. I am over my caffeine addiction and that is awesome!I never in a million years thought I would be able to give up caffeine! Before I was pregnant I was literally drinking a pot to a pot and a half of coffee a day!Plus diet cola... Now all I drink is water and I have no intention of going back to either coffee or cola after the baby is born! So pregnancy has some health benefits too!!!

5. Boobs...omg I have boobs!I lost a ton of weight a few years ago and of course one of the first things to go was my boobs! But now that I am pregnant I no longer have deflated little boobs I have Massively large boobs..which the Hubby adores!LOL I forgot how much fun they could be!! But I know they are only a temporary gain here..but I'll enjoy them nonetheless!

4. Bursts of creative energy! I am feeling extremely creative these days. I am writing more now than I have in years --I just feel so inspired everyday!Journaling, poetry, short stories...tons of ideas floating in my head!! I am back into crafting--I have not one, not two, but three cross-stitch projects going for the Lil Sweet Pea and I am even looking to pull the sewing machine out this summer to work on a quilt! I kind of lost my crafting mojo there for awhile but boy oh boy has it come back full force these last few months!!

3. Taking time for me. Pregnancy has given me a reason to slow down and relax. Take time to pamper myself with some much needed "me" time. I am able to just sit down in the evenings and read if I want or watch a television program because I can ( and usually because I just don't want to get up off the couch!!)

2. My Baby Bump!! Oh my gosh ...you have no idea how long I waited to be pregnant or how excited I am everyday to look down and see this tummy popping out! I love shopping for maternity clothes and getting to show off my bump! I have never felt more womanly and girly girl than I do these days!! I love it!

1. And the number one reason I love being pregnant: Getting to feel all the little kicks and hits from the Lil Sweet Pea and hearing that heartbeat and then getting the ultra-sound...and just knowing my little one is in there growing by leaps and bounds every day and that in a few short months I will be holding the Sweet Pea in my arms. It makes me smile everyday!!

About Me

I'm a mommy,a teacher, and a fashionista who is trying to find the balance between motherhood and career with style. I am huge fan of anything pink, ice cream (yummm),and my hubby who puts up with my craziness!You should know make up is my obsession, fashion is my addiction, and I will still rock out to Madonna while singing into a hairbrush from time to time! I am a reformed Mall Rat who has yet to fully succumb to letting go of big hair (hey mine is naturally curly--it will always be a bit big!)But mostly I'm just your average big city girl who moved to the 'burbs and is actually loving every minute of it!